Valve mechanism for gas-engines.



PATENTED OCT. 20,1903,

"W. J. WRIGHT. VALVE MECHANISM FOR GAS ENGINES.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 23. I900.

2 SHEETSSHEBT 1.

N0 MODEL.

mv /vron I No. 742,142. PATENTED OUT. 20, 1903-.

W. J. WRIGHT.

VALVE MECHANISM FOR GAS ENGINES.-

APPLIOA'IION FILBD JULY 23, 1900. a

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no MODEL. 1.1.

WITNESSES: INVENTOI? ,M M Uzi;

' 3c and exhausting can be maintained irrespec- UNITED STATES iatentedOctober 20, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM J. WRIGHT, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR or SEVEN-SIXTEENTHS TO JOHN F. MOKIBBEN, J. w. LEE, AND FRED J. GALLOWAY,

OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

VALVE MECHANISM s PEoIEIoAtrIoN forming part of Letters Patent No.742,142, dated October 20, 1905.

Application filed July 23, 1900.

To allwhom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM J. WRIGHT, residing at Pittsburg, in thecounty of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented anImprovement in Valve Mechanism for Gas-Engines, of which the followingis a specification.

This invention is in the nature of an improved valve mechanism forgas-engines; and

to it is more particularly adapted for use in the type of explosiveengine described and claimed in my copending application filed on evendate with this application, Serial No. 24,540, and the said inventionseeks to pro- 'vide a very simple, inexpensive, and effectively-operating valve mechanism capable of governing or controllingthefeed of the working agent to the working cylinder and the es cape of theexploded mixture in such manner as to avoid the necessity of providingcams, trip devices, eccentrics, &c., such'as are usually employed in thecommon type of explosive-engines, it also having for its pur pose toprovide a very compact arrangement- 2 5 of valve mechanism which whenproperly set will not readily get out of order and in which A theseveral parts are so arranged as to effect a positive, safe, quick, andeffective operation and by which a regular action of feeding tive of theexplosion thrusts of the operatingpistons.

My invention in its complete make-up also comprehends a novelconstruction of valve 5 mechanism capable of being adapted for use withother types of engines, steam or air,

without requiring essential changes of the parts constituting themechanism hereinafter specified.

The invention in its more subordinate features consists in certaindetails of construction and peculiar combination of parts, all of whichwill hereinafter be fully described, and pointed out in -the appendedclaims, refer- 5 ence being had to the accompanying drawings, in which-Figure 1 is a horizontal section of the simplest form of my improvedValve mechanism, taken on the line 1 1 of Fig. 3. Fig. 1 illustratesdiagrammatically the manner in which Serial No. 24,539. (No modela) myvalve mechanism shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3 is applied for use on atwo-cylinder pumping means for gasengines. Fig. 2 is an in.- verted planview of the rotary valve which forms a part of the complete valvemechanism. Fig. 3 is a vertical section of the valve mechanism, takenpractically on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a plan view of thebottom or base part of a modified construction of my improved valvemechanism, the same being especially applied for regulating the feed andexhausts of a double-cylinder gas-engine taking a working charge at bothends of the piston. Fig. 4 is a diagram illustrating the manner of useof the said modified form of valve mechanism. Fig. 5 is an inverted planview of the valve for the mechanism shown in Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a sectionon the line 6 6 of Fig. 4. Fig. 7 is a similar view on the line 7 7 ofFig. 4; and Fig. 8 is a diagrammatic View illustrating a furthermodification of my invention, the pump-governing valve mechanism and theworking-cylinder valve mechanism being combined, the two rotating valvemembers being mounted upon a single rotating stem or shaft. In the formillustrated in Figs. 1, 2, and 3 my type of Valve mechanism comprises abase 1, suitably mounted and having an annular feed-channel 2, intowhich a feed-pipe 3 discharges and which when the mechanism is used inthe manner shown'in Fig. 1 hereinafter referred to, the charge is amixed air and gas or other explosive agent. Arranged quadrantly the basehas a series of feed-ports a, b, c, and d, all of which communicate withthe feed-channel 2, and adjacent each of said ports and in the sameannular plane is an escape-port, said ports being designated by a, b, c,and d and discharging into oiftakes o b ,-c and CV.

4 designates a shaft rotatably held on the base 1 and extendedvertically therethrough, the upper end of which projects above the baseand terminates in a non-circular spindle 4 Any suitable means may beemployed for rotating the shaft 4 to effect a proper predeterminedrotation of valve 5, presently described, as particular use for whichthe said mechanism may be applied necessitates. 10o

When used for regulating the infiow to a pair of pumping-cylinders, asin Fig. l, the shaft 4 has a miter-gear 4Q, driven by a shaft 6, in turnrotated by direct or indirect connection with the crank-shaft of theengine.

The valve 5 has a flat seat to engage the seat of the base 1, and tohold the valve true on its base a flange-guide 7 is provided, and toregulate the pressure of the valve 5 on the base a bridge-piece (seedotted lines 8 of Fig. is provided, having clamp-screws 9 to bear downon the valve 5. The seat or under face of the valve has a pair ofconcentrically-arranged feed-chambers 10 and 11, that extend nearlyhalf-way around the seat, the inner channel 11 being so disposed as totravel in the plane of the ports I) b and d d, while the outer channeltravels over the remaining ports. lVhen arranged as described, it willbe manifest that by reason of the correlation of the several sets ofports and the feed-channels 10 and 11 in the valve that in rotating,assuming the valve to be traveling in the direction indicated by thearrow X, when the ports a a" are in full open communication at thecenter of the feed-channel 10 the channel 11 will just be beginning tobring in the port b with port I), it being also obvious that on theother half of its movement the valve 5 will act correspondingly on theother two sets of ports, which during the operation just describedremain closed.

The arrangement of the valve mechanism shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3 I havefound very elfective for regulating the inflow of the working agent to apair of pump-cylinders arranged to take in a charge at one end of thecylinders as the pistons drive out a prior charge at the other end andas a prior collected charge is driven alternately into the opposite endsof the pump-cylinders.

\Vhen applied as indicated in Fig. 1, the operation of the valvemechanism is as follows: Piston p, traveling in the direction indicatedby the arrow, draws in a flow of working agent back of it under fullhead through the pipe a which is now in communication with thefeed-channel through ports a a, and at the same time the pipe b is justbeginning to receive a flow through ports I) b and discharging in backof piston 19. The two air-pistons are driven in the direction indicatedby any suitable means, and the valve 5 continues in its rotary movement,brings the channel 10 into communication with ports a c, which allowspiston 29, which now begins its movement in the opposite direction,to'draw in the fluid back of it, and when said piston reaches the centerof its stroke in the direction stated the ports d d will open to pipe(V.

The modified form of my invention (shown in detail in Figs. 4: to 6 anddiagrammatically in an operative position in Fig. 4) has the ports a, a,Z) 6, c c, and cl (1 arranged the same as in Fig. 1, except that theports a, b, c, and (Z each communicate with an indente, 142

pendent feed-pipe 15, l6, l7, and 18, which when they form a part of theimproved gasengine shown in my copending application before referred tojoin with the escape-outlets of the pump cylinders. In this modifiedform the oiftake-pipes (indicated by A B O D may join with the inlets ofa pair of working cylinders, as shown in Fig. 4;, and said form ofmechanism also includes supplementalports,onesetfor each setofthefeedports before described, said supplemental ports being indicated,respectively, by A A, B B, C G, and D D, and all of the ports A, B, G,and D communicate with a single exhaust Z, while the ports A, B, G, andD join with the several exhausts in the two working cylinders.

It will be noticed by reference to Fig. l that by means of a valvemechanism constructed as described the continuous rotation of therotary-valve member will serve to pro gressively exhaust the ends of theworking cylinders and open up communication between the said cylindersand the diiferent feed-pipes that lead the charge into the severalfeed-pipes 66, b, c, and d.

Fig. 8 illustrates a further modification of my improvement. In thisform of myinvention the two valve mechanisms (shown in Figs. 1 and 4)are combined as onethat is, the two rotary-valve members are held inlike vertical planes on a single drive-shaft-- and while I have notillustrated the same it is manifest my valve may be further modified anda single rotary-valve member used in place of the two heretoforedescribed, with the food-channels therein and the feed-ports in. thebase disposed"cooperatively in such manner so as to provide for theproper predetermined feeding of the working agent to the pump-cylindersand to govern the feeding and exhausting for the working cylinders.

While I have illustrated the preferred use for which my improved valvemechanism is adapted, I deem it proper to here say that with slightmodifications coming under the scope of the appended claims the saidmechanism may be readily adapted to act as a substitute for the valvemechanisms shown in my copending application for improvements in agas-engine, Serial No. 23,709, filed July 16, 1900.

In the modified construction shown in Fig. 4 the valve 5 is providedwith supplemental feed-channels 10 11, havinga predetermined correlationwith the channels 10 11, said channels 1O 11 in this latter form beingmuch shorter than .thosein the valve shown in Fig. 2 to provide for aquick-feed action and also to permit the exhaust-channels 11 10 to openup communication through the exhaust-ports in the valve-base in advanceof the opening of the inlet-ports.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is-- 1. A valve mechanism, comprising a sta ICC IIO

tionary body having a plurality of sets of ports, each set having aninlet and an outlet, said sets being arranged to be successively broughtinto an operative condition, and a rotary-valve member havingfeedwaysadjacent each other and extending in the arcs of circles througha distance slightly less than one hundred and eighty degrees,andarranged to bring one set of'said ports into condition a for the passageof a maximum flow therethrough, as the two ports of the next set inadvance are being put into communication with each other, as specified.-

2. A valve mechanism having a series of ports arranged in sets, each setincluding an inlet and an outlet, the several sets being arranged to bebrought successively into an open condition adjacent each other andextending in the arcs of circles through a distance of slightly lessthan one hundred and eighty degrees, and a rotary valve member havingfeed-channels adapted to bring into an open position tw'o succeedingsets of ports,

while the remaining sets remain closed, and

to begin to open up the next succeeding ones of the remaining sets asthe first of the two sets of ports are being closed, as set forth.

3. A valve mechanism for the purpose described, comprising a base memberhaving a series of ports arranged in four sets, each set having an inletand an outlet, the inlet com- 'municating with a feed, the outlets withdistributing-pipes or offtakes, said sets being disposed annularly'; ofthe rotary valve having its face movable over the aforesaid ports, saidface having feed-channels adapted to engage with two adjacent sets ofthe ports at the same time, and While connecting with the forward one ofthe two sets of ports to maintain a full open way in the other set ofports it engages, as set forth.

4. A valve mechanism for the purposes described, comprising a basehaving four sets of ports, two diametrically opposite ones beingdisposed outside of the other two diametrically opposite ones, each setof ports including an inlet and an outlet, a valve meme ber held torotate on the stationary member, said valve member havingconcentrically-disposed feed-channels, the inner one traveling over theinner set of ports, the outer channel adapted to travel over the outerset of ports, substantially as shown and described, where.- by one setof ports will always be opened in advance of the other set of ports, forthe purposes described.

5. Avalve mechanism comprisingastatiom ary body having a plurality ofsets of ports one half of said sets being arranged in one series anddiametrically opposite each other the other half of said sets beingarranged in a second series and diametrically opposite each other, thesets of ports of the first series being arranged in the arc of onecirclethe sets of ports of the otherseries being arranged in the arc ofthe second circle, each set of ports having an inlet and outlet, saidsets'being arranged to be successively brought into operative condition,a rotary-valve member having feedways adjacent each other and extendingin the arc of circles and of slightly less length than one hundred andeighty degrees, said valve member and its feedways being so'arranged asto bring one set'of ports in one series into condition for the passageof a maximum flow therethrough as the ports of the next set in advanceof the second series are being brought into communication with eachother, substantially as shown and described.

WM. J WRIGHT.

Witnesses:

FRED G. DIETERICH, A. E. DIETERICH.

